


Resolution

by DarthOswin



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Confessions, F/M, Force Ghost(s), Love Confessions, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Revenge, Snoke Being a Dick, Snoke Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 18:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthOswin/pseuds/DarthOswin
Summary: Post TLJ, a very disoriented Kylo/Ben and Rey awaken in a dark room, cut off from the Force, but still in possession of their sabers. When the deceased Snoke reveals that he's the one who's brought them there and demands what he feel's he's owed, the two are left with little choice but to reprise their roles from the Throne Room....With the Resistance on the way, unbeknownst to the two men, Rey hopes to stall long enough for them to arrive. But as the scene moves on and Ben loses strength, the resolution, it seems, is leaning in Snoke's favor.





	Resolution

The room was dark, freezing, and the air was still. Kylo awoke lying on his back, the hard floor making him cringe as he moved, disoriented and sore. His head ached, and he had a sickening case of vertigo, worsened by the pure, crushing blackness surrounding him.

Closing his eyes and breathing slowly, he listened intently and could make out another person breathing, slow and deep, not far from him.

Rolling himself, fighting back a wave of nausea from the position change, he got to his feet, staying crouched low to the ground. Igniting his saber, he could make out a body curled in on itself, and he closed the gap between them hastily, recognizing her before he even noticed her messy, triple buns.

He rolled Rey onto her back and gave her a fast once over. No indication of an attack, she was just unconscious, and he sighed in relief. Giving a quick glance around, he thought better of speaking out loud and instead went to push at their bond to see about waking her up, having not disturbed it since the day she'd snapped it shut. Figuring this was a special set of circumstances, he doubted that she'd mind. He searched and searched, but couldn't find it. As he adjusted to his headache, dread settled into his stomach. It wasn't that he couldn't find it. He couldn't reach out to the Force. At all. Looking around rapidly now, he squinted in the dark, trying in vein to make out their surroundings.

He couldn't remember how he got here. He couldn't tell where Here was. A sense of unease was rising in him and before he knew it, he was violently whispering into Rey's ear, shaking her awake. "Something's happened. You have to get up. Now."

Her eyelids fluttered upon opening, trying to adjust to the red light cutting through the dark. "Ben?"

He placed a gloved finger to her lips and kept his voice low. "Your saber is on your side. If you can, stand, and prepare to fight."

She raised her eyebrow, contemplating if it was a threat against her or not. She rose slowly, using his arm for support, seeing the fear illuminated on his face. She ignited her saber as she steadied herself. "Where are we?" She asked quietly, following his lead and glancing around.

"I don't know." He said as he pulled her behind him, back to back, and kept an arm protectively across her.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Her heart sped up, concern settling in. "You didn't kidnap me again?" Her head ached and it was as if her mind was trying to clear away a thick fog.

"That was One Time. And no.... This isn't me." Moving as one, they were both turning slowly, trying to make out Anything around them. "Can you still feel the Force? I can't. It's throwing me off, badly."

Her racing heart skipped a beat. She'd noticed something missing.... but she hadn't been able to focus. Now that he'd said it, a wave of sickness crashed over her. She swallowed hard. "No, I can't. What the hell is this?"

"I don't know. Do you remember anyth-"

He went quiet as a shimmering blue light entered the corner of their visions. They both turned towards it, standing side by side and staring as it took on a shape, coming closer. Out of instinct, they both moved into their beginning stances, gripping their sabers and readying themselves for whatever this was.

The figure spoke. "You should know Exactly what this is.... My disobedient apprentice."

Rattled at the familiar voice, Ben's hands shook. With bile rising in his throat, he stepped forward, putting himself between Rey and his nightmare incarnate. "But you're dead. I killed you."

Snoke sneered cruely down at him, his energy ebbing and flowing as his form flickered, slowly turning from blue to a firey red. "Yes. You did finally succeed at something. However, death has never stopped me. Your grandfather knew, the same as you, but your lineage is littered with nothing but arrogance and disappointment. I don't know why I expected better of you...." He eyed Ben up and down before his eyes flitted over to Rey. "At least with your grandfather, the object of his compassion was easy enough to dispose of."

His blood was running cold but his grip was steadier now, anger and a flair of something he couldn't yet acknowledge fueling him. "What do you want with us?" He snarled, glaring up at him.

Snoke smiled, his face surprisingly placid, and it was unnerving to both of the young warriors. "Resolution, Ben Solo. Every good story has one.... And now, mine will too." He snapped his fingers and the lights raised to finally reveal their surroundings.

They were standing in Snoke's throne room on the Supremacy, the ship that Ben had ordered abandoned to float through space aimlessly upon becoming Supreme Leader, too haunted by Rey's rejection to take the throne room as his own.

The room was a little dusty, and the few repairs that had been made prior to giving up on it still held, but it was otherwise untouched. It explained why they'd had no clues to their location though. Without the Force to feel out their surroundings, and with the engines off, they hadn't even known they were on a ship.

Rey scoffed, annoyed, and with a flair of defensiveness rising in her chest. She stepped around Ben, holding ground between him and Snoke, and began to freely mock him. "Your resolution was your student surpassing you. Being Better than you." Rey's tension was leaving her. Without either of them noticing, she'd already alerted the Resistance to her location. Hidden by her arm wrap was a bracelet they'd insisted she wear after her last stint on the Supremacy. Depending on where exactly they were in the Galaxy, she'd have backup in 20 minutes or less.... if she even needed it at all, of which she had her doubts. "Besides, Ben's right. He Killed You. You're just a Force Ghost now!" Feeling smug, she pressed on, shaking off Ben's grasp and taking another step towards him. "What are you gonna do? Haunt us? Great! You can even change color! I could use a new lamp in my chambers.... think you can manage purple next?"

Ben grabbed her again, yanking her close and putting himself back between her and his old master. When he spoke, his voice was low, and his dead serious tone gave her pause. "Rey.... you don't understand. There are no Force Ghosts of the Dark Side."

Confused, yet apprehensive of the way his muscles tensed, she replied in guarded disbelief. "But there's one right in front of us."

A loud scoff stopped Ben from elaborating further. "Oh dear little Rey. Such a naive excuse for a Jedi you are." Snoke spoke with a haughty tone, sure and mocking. "My traitorous pupil is right. I am more than that. I am more than Everything. How do you think you got here? I brought you both myself." He turned his back to them and walked over to his throne. Before they realized what was happening, they were being Force pulled behind him, their sabers suddenly turning off. He ascended the steps and sat, getting comfortable. "You might have gotten the upper hand last time, but it won't happen again. No.... this time, the Great Kylo Ren!.... Will do as I command."

Understanding dawned on Ben, swift and unforgiving, and he was suddenly throwing all he had into shoving Rey behind him. He fought hard against Snoke's hold on her and as he accepted it was fruitless, he began to beg. "No. Please. No." His voice was trembling and he threw himself to his knees as he came to a stop, Rey's hand being pulled from his, and watching as she was slowly dragged in front of him. His heart might as well have stopped the moment she was in place and he did the only thing he Could do, which was bargain for a trade. "Don't do this. Please! Kill Me. Take control of Me. I don't care. I will reswear myself to you. I will do your will. Anything But This."

"What are you doing?" Rey stared at him, concerned for the quivering man before her and confused beyond belief.

It was only when he looked up at her, his eyes fury, and fear, and pain, that the familiarity of the situation struck her. Her saber was yanked from her grasp, flying across the room, hitting the wall with a bang and clattering across the floor. She watched in heart wrenching horror that she refused to show as Ben was pulled to his feet, saber locked in his tightly closed fist, and he was forced to face her.

His pale complexion paled further as he continued to plead, staring past her, his words shaking as bad as he would be if he wasn't being held so tightly that it was nearly a struggle just to blink. His speech, he noted, was unaffected by the hold though. "Please, Master, don't-"

Snoke scoffed. "Master? If you'd truly viewed me as your master, this problem would have resolved ages ago. We wouldn't be here and She'd be a distant memory.... So Don't Call Me Master, boy.... You are far too weak for my standards anyway. Weak like your mother. Weak like your grandfather!"

Ben could feel his wrist start to move and he locked it in place the best he could, noting that  
that, as well, he could do.... It was then he understood the depth that Snoke was playing with them. He turned his attention fully to her, realizing now there was no chance of changing his mind. "Rey. Run. You have to run. You're Stronger than he is. Stronger than you know. Please.... Just run."

His voice was desperate and so very scared. She stared into his eyes and fought to keep her composure, speaking calmly. "He has me paralyzed. I can't move. I couldn't fight him then.... And now, without the Force...." She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Listen to me. It's going to be okay."

He went to shake his head and then remembered he couldn't. "No. Not if this happens. This isn't.... how could anything be okay after this?"

The painful finality in his voice made her that much more driven to reassure him. "It's going to be okay, because it is. It just Is Ben, alright? This is Not your fault, and-"

"Yes it is. I should have just gone with you. This wouldn't have happened if I'd just joined you. You'd already seen it, you knew I could have turned. I should have just.... And now, you're going to die, and it's All My Fault." His arm was shaking as he fought harder, putting all of his strength into it.

"No. This is Snoke. This isn't You. You saved me. And I know that if you could, you would now too. And it's okay that you can't."

He strength lagged for a moment and his wrist snapped towards her. "No!" He fought it back, managing to turn the saber away from her by a few mere inches. He looked as if he was going to puke, and she watched as a tear slid down his cheek. He groaned with the effort, his wrist aching, and said. "I'm going to fight this as long as I can, I promise."

Frozen in place, she was condemned to watch him as he came apart, crumbling at the seams. She couldn't reach out to him, she couldn't tell him help was coming in case Snoke decided to end this now, and she couldn't comfort him.... "When this fight ends....why don't you fight the darkness too? You said you should have joined me."

"Yes. YOU. Not the Resistance, not the Light.... just you." His brow furrowed and he met her eyes again. "I only wanted you."

Her breath caught at the desperate longing in his eyes, a look she'd had so many times before. It was hope, shattering apart. She forced herself to breath. "I wanted you too."

His sorrow deepened, and it was written all over his face. "You really did?"

She tried to nod but remembered she couldn't. "Of course I did. We didn't have to be alone anymore.... But the path you were going down, I couldn't follow. It wasn't mine." She bit her lip, but pushed on, knowing they were running out of time. "But I'm sorry. If I'd known this was how it was going to end, I would have said yes. If I'd known we didn't have time, I would have ruled with you.... just because I would have been With You." Despite her efforts, her voice broke and she had to clear her throat to continue. "I wanted us to be together." She swallowed hard and despite her best efforts, a tear slipped down her cheek as she rushed out. "I'm so sorry I closed the bond. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." He watched as a few more tears escaped her, and he felt his cheeks dampen as well. His late master's power intensified and, not having anything extra to draw upon, Ben's strength was waning. He didn't want to say anything, but he knew it was only right. "I'm losing. I can't hold him off much longer."

Unable to stop herself, she glanced down in time to see the saber turn a fraction towards her. If she could have moved even an inch, it would have made her jump.

Seeing her gaze and the sudden break in her brave front, he spoke simply, demanding, and sharp enough to grab her attention. "Don't."

They locked eyes again and she whispered, finally fearful of her approaching fate and the pain to come. "Don't what?"

Keeping her gaze, his tone softened, taking in every feature of her grief stricken face. His heart ached, and just as she wanted to comfort him, he badly wanted to reach out to her. He wanted her safe.... But at the very least, he didn't want her scared. With more strength than he would have ever guessed he had, he said. "Don't look down. Don't look at the saber. Just keep your eyes on mine." He drew in a deep breath. "My father, Han.... He told me once, when he first saw my mother, he thought she was this annoying, stuck up princess but, deep down.... Something told him that she was the girl he was going to marry."

She smiled, caught off guard, but pleasantly deframed. "That's really sweet. They loved each other. I barely saw them together, but I could tell."

"Yeah. They really did. But, I couldn't understand how he could feel such conflicting things at the same time. Not until I saw you."

Her breath caught again and he pushed on, needing to tell her.... Needing her to know. Everything.

"Since the first moment I saw you, so very brave, framed by the forest, I Knew you were special. Not just in the way of the Force, but you were special To Me. You Still Are. Upon going to meet you, I knew you were technically my enemy.... That you were standing in the way of what I Thought I wanted, but I was wrong, and I knew it then, but I was blind to it. YOU were what I wanted. You Are Still what I want. I could have given up everything, and if I'd stopped being so damn stupid.... If I would have accepted then what I have for ages now.... I would have lost nothing if it meant I had you." He gritted his teeth as more emotions than he'd ever felt before surged through him, leaving agony in their wake. He thought hard. Was there anything else he needed to say? There was one thing. But he had never.... "I'm sorry I fired on the Falcon with you in it." He blurted out, cursing himself for being weak in the one area he had no time to be weak in anymore.

She squeezed her eyes shut to clear away the tears and quickly reopened them, wanting as much time as she had left to be spent looking at him. She laughed, the action not reaching her eyes. "It's okay. You're forgiven." Her heart was pounding in her chest, her mouth was dry, and her body was numb, cementing for her that her beats were limited and, soon, she would be cold forever. "You're forgiven for everything. You know that, right? Even this."

"Yes. I do. And you.... you know that I-" He choked on the words as he felt Snoke's power over him increase. He struggled against it and it showed.

She watched his frown deepen and his eyes harden and she knew. It was time. She took a deep breath, trying to center herself even as her fear for him overwhelmed her. His eyes were bright and broken and trying so hard to convey every good thing that he could for her. "Please tell me you'll be alright."

Her eyes were wide, scared, and something else. Her tears were freely rolling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. She was beautiful, and heart breaking, and he could barely breath. "No promises. But for you, I'll try." He lost his fight and his wrist snapped towards her, his arm jerking up, and his saber pressing against the bottom of her sternum as he finally, Finally found his voice and rushed out the words he needed to say most of all, for both of them. "I love you Rey."

They couldn't bare to close their eyes, and her eyes....they got So Bright that he marveled at them. In them, he could see the Force, swirling and spiking, his Rey of Light, and he could see himself and all of the things that they could be.... Were Meant to be....

When his finger hit the button, she managed to get out. "I know, and--."

His blade shot through her and for the second time he had to watch someone he loved give him that shocked look of pain, folding in upon herself in a way that no Force Hold could have stopped. She looked so small, and an eternity passed between them. The only blessing was that he knew she wanted him to be the last thing she saw, and he was able to give her that at least.

Snoke's laughter and applause filled the room, but he heard none of it, the sound drowned out by her last breath. He wasn't sure, but he could swear she mouthed to him, unable to speak, "I love you too."

The hold on him broke as Snoke faded away. His finger slammed on the button, disarming the blade, and he dropped it, the crashing sound of it echoing through the empty halls as he caught her, her body still and her eyes glazing over.

Without Snoke's manipulations and with Rey no longer having the strength or desire to block him, he could feel their bond again. The familiarity both soothed and tore him apart as he tried to grasp on to it, only to feel it slipping away as he lowered them both to the floor.

He was Furious. He was Hurt. He wanted to rip apart the Force itself and pull her back from it, shredding it apart for Daring to make him hope....

He was alone now. And he always had been before but, knowing now what it was like to have somebody.... Knowing he'd been So Close to having Her....

Unable to move or to truly think, he sobbed, hard and heavy and with all of himself. The mind takes the longest to die. He knew that, and he knew that she was still in the process, her existence on auto pilot as her body turned off all the lights, locked the door, and prepared to walk away. But he had Learned Things under Snoke.... He had read the old Sith stories. Something raw and sinister reared up inside him as the whispers of ancient knowledge flowed through his head. He Could bring her back. They Could be together. He Could just....

And then the bond disappeared completely, bringing his thoughts to a screeching halt.

Her weight dissipated from his arms and he wiped at his face, frantic to see, only to find just her wraps and her soft grey tunic crumpled in his lap. Delicately, he brushed his fingers against the fabric before burying his face in them, holding them in a death grip.

She'd wanted him to fight the darkness. She'd wanted him to be alright. His mind replayed her face, the way her hazel eyes had begged him, and just how sad she'd looked. He couldn't shake the image of her. Even facing her end, she'd been more concerned for him. He hated to ask it, but his mind forced him to consider the question.... How could he possibly do the things it would take to bring her back, and still do right by her?

His mourning was interrupted as the doors behind him slid open and he heard footsteps rushing in. His focus briefly grabbed, he immediately recognized two of the energy signatures coming up behind him to be those of the Best Pilot in the Resistance, and the Traitor. More footsteps. There was a girl he did he not know and, somewhere in the not so far distance behind them, were Chewie and Leia.

He exhaled slowly, turning a new, bright, little thought over and over in his mind. She'd wanted him to fight the dark. She had shown him everything he'd needed to know. His Rey of Light.

He closed his eyes and focused, heard Dameron yell something to him, something about putting his hands up. Heard the traitor calling out, voice frantic, for Rey.

'Better make this quick.' He thought and he sensed Dameron draw his blaster. Before anyone could speak, a shot went off, aimed squarely at his head. Poe jolted, and everyone fell silent, startled, except for Ben, who was clutching her tunic that much tighter, and smiling into it as the blast flew through him.

Poe stared at his blaster and dropped it, recoiling from it in shock. Leia and Chewie burst through the doorway, her voice ringing out in a panic. "Poe! What have you done?! I told you Snoke was back. I told you this was him!! Why would you-"

He threw his hands up, showing his palms and stammering. "General! I-I didn't! I swear! My finger wasn't even on the trigger!"

Her heart was broken and she could feel nothing but death and Snoke's suffocating yet retreating aura clouding the room. Reaching the trio, she glanced between them, feeling Poe's sincerity but still rounding on Finn and Rose for answers, angry and shaken with desperate disbelief. They both nodded, clearly spooked, and Leia turned to Chewie, sobbing into his fuzzy chest. There was something else wrong, but her heart was consumed by the ache for her child, the same one who used to love cuddling with her on the couch, had been ecstatic the first day he'd been allowed to swing a lightsaber, and whom she'd felt, for the smallest moment, step back into the Light.

Finn was staring straight ahead at Ben Solo, his slumped form leaning over something.... He took a step closer, and then one more, and as the familiarity of the grey colored cloth sank in, suddenly he was running, each footfall accompanied by an ever increasing in volume "No."

He fell to his knees as he grabbed one of the arm wraps and pulled her bracelet from just inside of it. Poe hurried to his side, unsure why his friend was tearing up. When he saw Rey's clothes, he fell to the ground as well and hugged Finn, his heart dropping to his feet.

Everyone but Rose was taken up by sorrow, and too preoccupied to see why her jaw had gone slack and her eyes had grown wide. Calmly and slowly, she gently turned Leia towards the far corner of the room and tapped Chewie on the arm, pointing silently before going to Finn and Poe. She knelt where their arms met and softly yet firmly got their attention as well.

The first thing they noticed was that Ben's clothing was now laying next to and under some of Rey's, with his body nowhere in sight. It was when she got them to look towards the corner that they stood slowly in witness to the ethereal scene unfolding before them, Finn leaning into Rose and Poe resting a hand on Leia's shoulder as Leia and Chewie came to a stop next to them.

Rey and Ben walked towards each other, both now a shimmering blue, with a seriousness to their stride. They stopped inches apart and Rey, clearly pissed, went up on her toes to smack him hard across the face. "Why would you do that?!" She yelled, her fury coming off of her in waves. "You said you would try to be alright for me!"

He chuckled, taking her anger in stride while he rubbed his cheek, smiling softly. "I did. I had a second or so. What can I say? I give up easily."

She stared at him in disbelief. "No. You don't. You pursued me, And the Resistance, for how long?! Why would you do this? You just threw away the rest of your life?! You-"

He grabbed her by her forearms and kissed her, cutting her off and derailing her completely. After the initial shock wore off, she relaxed, melting into his arms as he wrapped them around her, taking her metaphorical breath away. When their kiss came to an end, they were both left staring at each other, stunned and in a haze of bliss. When he spoke again, his voice stayed low, not wanting to harm the moment. "You're wrong. What life did I have left if you weren't going to be in it? I threw away nothing.... and I gained everything." He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and gently trailed his fingers along her cheek. "Besides.... now we don't have to be alone anymore. That is, if you can forgive me."

She smiled at him with new, happier tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She placed her hands on the front of his robes and tangled her fingers in them lightly. "Well," She looked back up at him and really took him in. The lines on his face from years of anger had smoothed out, replaced by the beginning of laugh lines. His eyes, once having fought so hard to stay masked from the world, were now open and calm. And his smile.... She decided then that she loved his smile. "I -did- say you were already forgiven for everything else, so...." She went up on her toes again while pulling on his robes, kissing him the moment he was close enough. "I guess One More Thing wouldn't hurt." She flattened her feet again and poorly tried to hide a grin. "I'm still sort of angry though."

The only emotions he could find, swirling with the Force in the depths of her eyes, was happiness and love in their purest forms. "That's fine." He whispered, his voice cracking with the same emotions as they overwhelmed him too. "I have an eternity to make it up to you.... and I wouldn't trade that for anything."

They embraced again and he kept her close, even as they turned their backs to their crying audience and slowly walked away, fading into the Force, to join the others who had gone before them.

And while not all of the living looking on were Force sensitive, that didn't hinder them from seeing the faintest outlines of Luke and Han embrace the pair. It also didn't stop them from experiencing the warmth that filled the room, chasing away the last of Snoke's influence and surrounding them with the essence of peace.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to stalk me on social media for randomness, geekery, and an intellectual (that was supposed to say "unhealthy", but my auto-correct apparently disagreed) amount of Reylo by looking up "Darth Oswin" pretty much anywhere. I'd love to hear what you think.
> 
> May the Force be with you all. :)


End file.
